D&D Essentials? What’s New? Formatting and Marketing
Posted by Fozz
Bill Slavicsek posted today a new glimpse of the D&D Essentials product line and clarified to everyone confused about the what
" essentials" is. Basically D&D Essentials is the same as any other D&D 4E books, just a new format and marketed to new players. The Rules Compendium compiles all the rules in one place with all the updates already in place and the new "classes" are just new builds that open up new play mechanics.
I think this is a great idea, especially with the ongoing D&D Encounters bringing in more and more new players. This is a product line that will allow newbies a fresh starting point to jump in, instead of having to sort through the back library of books released. And for all of us existing players, new builds for our favorite classes, similar to the source books.
My only advice to Wizards is to get this product line into more general stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, etc. in addition to the bookstores and LGS.
The second part of the article introduced the Mage build for wizards. Mages are the traditional scholarly wizards who can learn from different schools of magic, such as Enchantment School, Evocation School, and Illusion School.
One thing that I noticed that was a little more clear was that is sounds like your class feature levels up with you. So for example a mage graduates from Apprentice Mage to Expert Mage at level 5, gaining new benefit. This is a great idea and I am excited to see more about it.
Looking Forward to New Core D&D Novels
Posted by Fozz
I just finished pre-ordering the new novels from Wizards of the Coast set in the core 4E D&D world presented in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide over at Amazon. I just happened to stumble upon them while browsing around the D&D website. I have only read a handful of D&D novels, but I am looking forward to jumping into a new series and seeing how they visualize this setting.
The first book, The Mark of Nerath, written by Bill Slavicsek, one of the creators of the fourth edition of D&D, and it takes place in the Nentir Vale. It follows a group of adventurers as they try to stop an evil emperor from the time of the Nerath Empire escape his prison in the Shadowfell. It sounds like it will play out just like a home campaign featuring all the cool 4E D&D races we all love. I can't remember where I read it, but I think it even has a revenant brought back by the Raven Queen, which should be pretty cool because it is just like one of my characters. You can read a sample chapter here.
The second book, The Seal of Karga Kul, written by Alex Irvine, seems to follow a different storyline, so I don't know if they will be connected or not.
I am excited about reading these books and will post a review once they come out. First one is due next month.
My favorite power – Teleportation
Posted by Fozz
Teleportation has long been my favorite superpower and always my favorite thing to do in D&D. As a player, I loved my Assassin's at-will teleportation, stepping into one person's shadow only to appear within my enemies'. My teleporting Swordmage, instantly appearing to smite my marked foe, if he dares to ignore me. And as a DM, nothing messes with your player's well laid plans as a teleporting and phasing Gish Assassin.
Wizards of the Coast has started up a new article series talking about various rules of the game and their first discussion is about Teleportation. It discusses the original rules and the recent rules updates.
If you want to get up to date about the various rules and updates to the teleporting power in D&D check out their new article.
Focus Fire! D&D Player Advice
Posted by Fozz
I love this new D&D article on using focus fire to take down encounters in D&D. In the back of my mind I know this, but during play it doesn't always work out like that. This graphic helped me realize how much it actually helps in terms of the numbers of monster attacks.
D&D May 2010 Rules Updates.. It’s a big one!
Posted by Fozz
Make sure you check out the new May 2010 D&D rules update here.
There are a lot of minor rule updates and clarifications. I did notice several things our groups use such as, lightning arrows and healer's lore. Plus other updates to things like Aid Another during skill challenges and flying rules.
Overall lots of stuff, so I highly recommend giving it a read to see if there is anything that effects your characters and also so everyone is on the same page as far as the general rules.
Player’s Handbook Heroes Set 2 Gallery
Posted by Fozz
The Player's Handbook Heroes Set 2 looks very nice and will make a great addition to any collection. I especially like the Genasi Paladin and Human Swordmage due to their versatility as a wide range of classes.
D&D Dangerous Delves Gallery
Posted by Fozz
Wizards of the Coast have release all of the preview images of the entire Dangerous Delve monster miniatures and I have to say I am quite impressed so far. The sculpts and paint jobs seemed to be top notch although I'll have to see how the actual product stands up to the images. A favorite is the Bloodrager Troll, who has had weapons and metal grafted into his body ala Wolverine. It will be nice to have at least one of the miniatures visible in each pack and it seems the visible one is always pretty nice looking. These monsters are instantly playable in your game with the included stat card, no need to look up the stats in the monster manual.
So that concludes the D&D miniature previews until the new PHB Heroes set comes out in July and the new monsters set, Legendary Evils (huge creatures!), is released in August.
New Druid Class Previewed
Posted by Fozz
The new druid class was previewed this morning in the D&D Insider over at WotC. We only get to see levels 1-3 until it is released in the upcoming Player's Handbook 2 this March.
Druids rely on the Primal power source and are able to control the battlefield from a distance in human form and up close in their beast form. Although the druid is classified as a Controller role, depending upon your build, you can add in powers that make you a good leader or striker. These two primal aspects are called Primal Gaurdian and Primal Predator, which gives a bonus to AC and boosts your speed, respectively.
Your class feature at-will power lets you change into beast or human form as a minor action and shift 1 square. You can only do this once per round though (Powergamers, I know what you were thinking 
) It is interesting that all of your equipment becomes part of your beast form when you change and you still gain their benefits, but anything you were holding drops, except your implements. Also anything in a container that is part of your beast form is inaccessible.
In addition, Druids start out with 3 at-will powers, but you must always have 1-2 powers that have the beast form keyword. The beast form powers allow you to slow your enemies, grant combat advantage, and slide them around. Your human form powers usually restrict movement or cause damage via fire and lightning.
All in all, it seems like the druid will be a very popular PC due to it's nice powers that allow you to do so much, it has great roleplaying potential, and who would want to turn into an animal at will!
What do you think? Are you as excited about the PHB2 as I am?
D&D Mini Preview 2: Demonweb
Posted by Fozz
Wizards of the Coast has quickly released the next preview of minis in the upcoming Demonweb set of miniatures. The Iron Dragon Prowler and Deathcap, which is a mushroom.... are you serious? A Mushroom?!?
Upcoming Events
September 4th -Support WeeBeeGamers
Gamer Shirts
Pages
Categories
Comments
Tags
Recent Forum Posts
Login / Site Info
Connect with Facebook
Tshirt Stores
Our Hosting Solution
Recent Comments